Analysis Of Melinda's Damaging Home Life In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda’s Damaging Home Life A lack of a structured home life can have horrific effects on the psyche of children and young adults. When the parents are , or emotionally distant, the child may feel unnoticed or insignificant. In Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, a young woman named Melinda Sordino, experiences the horror of sexual assault. Unfortunately, her family life shows a level of dysfunction that inhibits her ability to immediately come to terms with her trauma. The lack of interaction between Melinda and her parents creates a difficult situation, leading to a sharp decline in her emotional, behavioral, and social well-being. Melinda experienced a traumatic event that introduced caos into her life Her parents were hardly ever around, and when present, were emotionally distant, rarely interacting with her. Their total obliviousness to their daughter’s rapidly deteriorating condition was an unintended consequence of this. She went through bullying at school and lost all her friends, nearly everyone disliked her. No one had any idea what happened to her, for she told nobody about it and bottled up all of her emotions. …show more content…
Altho at every instance of this, she held back because a part of her believed they wouldn't care or even believe her. She was accustomed to the unhealthy and detached structure of her family, in which they would only spend time together on rare occasions. They spent so little time together that on Christmas when her parents got her a sketchbook, and said they noticed her drawing, she was surprised and nearly brought to tears. She thought her parents never noticed her. This kind of home life is extremely unhealthy by itself, let alone accompanied by an emotionally scarring